FED:Australia shocked at Greste sentence=2

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the federal government and ministers had been pressing the Egyptian government at the highest levels for months over the Greste matter: “I cannot think of what more that we could have done,” she said.
Photo: Jon Reid

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the federal government was shocked and appalled by the severity of the seven-year sentence of Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues for aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

"The Australian government simply cannot understand it based on the evidence that was presented," she told journalists on Monday.

"The Australian government is shocked at the verdict. We are deeply dismayed that a sentence has been imposed and appalled at the severity of it."

She said the verdict "does not support Egypt's claim to be on a transition to democracy".

The federal government is trying to find out what intervention is possible, she said.

"I want to see if there is a possibility for us to initiate a contact with the President to see if there can be an earlier intervention."

Ms Bishop said the federal government and ministers had been pressing the Egypt government at the highest levels for months over the Greste matter.